Can't we all just get along!?

In an attempt to make things easier on myself, I wanted
to try and integrate 2 of the groups I have. Right now
there are 3 separate groups who have their own run times.
Lil and Starlight are what is left of the original bunch
from when I moved into my house 7 years ago. Having
seniority in the house as it were, they get to have
during the day while I am at work for their run time.
The next group is JJ and Austin. They get to be out
from when I get home around 5:30 pm until I go to bed.
Now to try and make things fair I try to stay up until
midnight so they have equal time out. Then just before
I turn in I put the boys to bed and let out the kids.
These are Sasha, LizBeth, and Ozzie. LizBeth is barely
a year old and Sasha is 2 and half or so. I think
Alicia said Ozzie is 5, so he isn't technically a kid,
but who's counting? These guys stay out until I wake
up around 5 am. Sometimes I get home late if I am doing
something after work, so somebody gets cheated out of
their play time. So I make up for it on the weekends
if I can and leave that group out a little longer.

I have these groupings because nobody has tolerated
anybody from outside their own group. The drawback to
this all is I don't end up getting a lot of sleep during
the week and have to try and make up for it on the weekend
myself, which means I don't get a lot done around the
house, and I am pretty run down most of the time. So I
thought, these guys have all been in the same room with
each other for a year or so, they must be used to each
other by now. So I tried a little experimentation to
see if I could cut down to 2 run times. Lil pretty much
has disliked everyone except for Starlight since her
brother Phil and Sinbad passed away. I was hoping that
the melatonin chip would have mellowed her a little. It
did such a great job otherwise, she has a wonderful winter
coat this year! ( Her tail was nearly bald back in October).
So I put her out with Austin figuring that he is about
as mellow a guy as you can get. No go, she went right for
him and wouldn't let go. I didn't even want to think what
would happen with JJ. I waited a day, and then tried to
see what she would do with Sasha, who is the definite
dominant one in her group. No go there either. Lil likes
who she likes.

So I waited a week and thought I would try and see if JJ
wanted make nice with another ferret. So I put him and
Ozzie out. JJ is a ferret who likes people, not ferrets.
He thinks he is a person. He likes Austin and that's
about it. JJ pounced right on Ozzie and got him by the scruff
and wouldn't let go. It took a couple of minutes to get him
to let go. So much for that experiment. I felt bad for Ozzie,
he didn't do anything! So he came out and watched TV with me
for a while. Which wasn't long, there isn't a ferret around
that will sit still for more than 5 minutes when in a new
place. I couldn't let him roam out where we were though, it
is not ferret proofed, and the cat doesn't seem to like
ferrets. But he seemed to have gotten over the ordeal. I gave
him a chicken N-bone, and he was content. (This meant I
had to give Sasha and Lizbeth one as well. Fairs fair.).
SO the integration of groups is not to be. I think I am going
try and make some kind of room divider so I can let the
boys and the kids out at the same time. We'll see.

I have to add that this is in no way a complain post about the
ferrets. I love my kids to death. It is just me rambling on
about the latest madness going on around here. peace.

Ferretwise Holiday Party

Well, on December 1st, we held our little Christmas
get together with all the people that are involved
with Ferretwise. People in attendance were, Marilyn,
Skyla, Susan, Maurice, Dino, Alicia, and of course,
me. Ferrets in attendance in this case were, Nestle,
since we were in his domain. He suffers Alicia to
have her art studio there too. We started off in the
studio for snacks and chatting, was also open house
time for Alicia's studio, http://www.earlysunrisefineart.com/

It was good to have time to chat and get caught up with
people. We then adjourned to Lee & Mt Fuji restaurant
for dinner and the traditional Yankee Swap. I will
attempt to attach a photo of the group, haven't done
this before, so I hope it works. I ended up with what
I brought for the swap, but that's ok. I purchased
something I would like to get, what planning! When we
first arrived, Marilyn pointed out to me that my
shirt was on inside out. She thought maybe it was some
new style, and I briefly thought of going with that,
but decided that I would just be truthful and then point
out that it was like that the whole time back at the
studio, and nobody noticed. If it isn't weasel like
and furry, we are a pretty unobservant bunch.

Back Row: Me, Susan, and Dino
Front Row: Skyla, Alicia, and Maurice
Not pictured: Marilyn (She's taking the picture)

After that some of us went back to the studio for
some coffee and more socializing. Plus we had to
play with Nestle a little bit. There were 2
packages there for me to grab, one for Ozzie and
LizBeth, and another for JJ and Austin. These were
their Christmas gifts from their secret Santa's. They
also helped me out a bunch as they had a bunch of supplies
that get used by everybody. So it was great all around.
Thank you to the secret Santa, you know who you are. I
don't, that's why they are Secret Santa's. After
coffee and more snackie things than I needed, it was time
to go. I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me, it was a fun time
altogether.

LAUNDRY DAY

Last weekend, I had decided it was time all the
bedding for the kids needed to be washed. This
is a semi annual event. These guys REALLY hate
it when I do the laundry. They like things just the
way they are. Lil was the only one that seemed to
think it was a fun time. I did it one house at a
time, starting with the 2 boys, JJ and Austin. I
started removing the dirty stuff, hammocks, sleep
sacks, and so on. Now the boys were occupying the
place at the time. It was Lil and Starlights time
out. Austin did not want me doing this, he, to my
surprise, very uncharacteristically nipped at my
hand a few times during the process. Austin never
does this! JJ will do it in the excitement of play,
but Austin seems so mild mannered. I got the job
done despite the protests.

As I pulled stuff out I dumped it in a pile on the
floor. This led to lot's of entertainment for Lil.
She had been asleep in the carrier in the corner
but came out when she heard me rustling around.
All this stuff on the floor to crawl through!
And it smelled like all those other guys she
wished she could get at to show them who is
the boss! She was crawling around frantically
doing the cluck sound ferrets do when they get
really excited. Her tail was totally bottle
brushed too. Lil spent the whole time I was
in there rummaging through all the dirty
laundry. I had to give her a foamy fry to
distract her so I could pick it up and take
it to the washing machine. Of course everyone
saw me do that and it meant treats all around.
I am such a soft touch.

Boston Children's Museum and other things.

Hi, It's been a good long time since I wrote anything, so I figured

I ought to. Alicia needs more material for the news letter anyhow.
On September 15th, JJ, Austin, and I went into the Boston Children's
Museum for a Critter Day. We had a little section of the museum to
set up a play pen and introduce the ferrets to any kids that wanted
to meet them. We were there with some of the shelter folks, Alicia
and Dino, Susan and Skyla were there too. As well as some of the
shelter occupants. I for the life of me can't remember which one's,
but JJ and Austin were there, so that is all that matters!

It was a very fun day, we met quite a few people and introduced them
to the ferrets. JJ and Austin also got to get re-aquainted with some
of their pals from when they lived in the shelter. They enjoyed
themselves as much as we humans did. All that unsolicited attention!
Finally they got the limelight they deserved. On the drive into Boston,
My 2 boys were incredibly antsy, I took them in the detachable top
floor of their condo. I had it all neatly arranged. Corner litterbox
in place, food here, bed there, mat under all. By the time we got
there, the litter box and food had been spilled a couple of times,
and the bedding was everywhere! So they were full of energy for
the day. The trip home was the complete opposite. Once we got out
of the building and into the car and traveling, they settled
right down and went straight into what I like to call the ferret
sleep of the dead. In this state it takes an atomic bomb blast
to get a ferret to stir. Even when you get their attention, they
will open up one eye and say, what? The first time I encountered
this phenomenon was with my first ferret, Mishka. I cam home
found her curled up and unresponsive and was really sad because
I thought she had passed on. When they get like that, they are
limp as a wet noodle, and will usually have a tongue hanging out.
Then I realized, wait a minute! She's very warm, and breathing!
I was tapping her on the forehead for a minute or so before
she stirred and opened one eye with the attitude of, what
do you want?

Other things going on at home, I have instituted some tooth
brushing. Starting with Starlight and Ozzie who had some
gross things growin in their mouths. Now Starlight is a tiny
little thing, we just weighed her last week at the vets and
she was at 640 grams, which is a good weight for her. I bought
a couple of children's ultra soft tooth brushes and some kitten
tooth paste and started out. When I scruff her, she can make
it with her neck, so there is nothing to grab. I will eventually
get a hold on her. But when I start brushing, then the fun begins!
She will thrash about like a little devil. I can't keep a grip
on her. She spins her bottom around like a top. She spends
most of the day sleeping and resting, she is almost 8, so
she has plenty of energy to spare. I will eventually get the
deed done, but we are both usually covered in tooth paste!
After that it's Ozzie's turn. He lets me scruff him and brush
away for as long as I want. Go figure. This is the one that
Alicia sent with me because he chomped on too many people.
He is fine with me. Hasn't tried in a while. I think he is
content. Well, that is all for now. Life goes on, there
are always plenty of N-bones and other treats, who could
ask for more?

Awesome Austin and the J Man

Last Saturday we had our monthly get together of Ferretwise
people. We met at the shelter instead of the Colony Mill
Marketplace so we could do some clean up work and have a
barbecue. JJ went for a ride with me to visit with Austin.
They were roommates when JJ lived at the shelter. Austin
is the only ferret that JJ likes, any other ferret he
tries to beat up. Austin was supposed to go with some
other people who ended up not being able to take him,
so he came home with JJ and I so they could be roomies
again. We just had to make sure JJ remembered Austin,
fortunately he did. So while I cleaned carriers and
ate barbecue, they got reacquainted and played.

On the trip out, JJ was all full of energy
for some reason, usually when I travel with any of the
kids, they just hang out in a hammock and sleep. Not
JJ, he was bouncing off the walls, kept trying to
turn the litter box over and generally messed his
carrier up. Fortunately on the trip home, with
Austin in there with him, he was calmer and napped.
I think he had played pretty hard and was worn out.

Austin has moved right in and is getting used to
his new home. I discovered he is a door charger, the
first time they were out to play, I opened the door
to go in and he zipped out right between my feet.
He didn't get far though, I think he was confused
because he didn't recognize the place. I was told
by Alicia that he got out last week and was in her
fabric room having a grand old time. I think he
was looking for that. I was able to nab him while
he was standing there. His befuddlement didn't
last long though, he goes at the door every time
I open it when he is out. Even if he is across the
room. I am ready for him now though. So now I have 2
of them, Lil likes to do that too. Keeps me on my
toes.
JJ is now a happier boy than he was before, if
that is possible. He has his roommate back to
help in any shenanigans he might want to get into.
He is so funny when I let them out for their play
time. They won't come out on their own, I have to
lift them out and give a hug. But when I put JJ
down, he never lands on his feet. He is so
excited to get going he is squirming all over the
place, so he ends up falling over on his side
usually. He will then run around in a circle a
couple of times. After that he makes a dash for
under the chest of drawers I have in there to hold
bedding and stuff for them. This is the funniest
part because JJ is a large boy, so he has to squash
down with his hind legs spread eagle to get under
there. He does this at top speed though, which is
why it is kind of comical to watch. After he gets
under he sticks his nose out to see if I am still
there, because he wants to play some more. I always
oblige him. The sack game is his favorite.( See
the airport post for the description of this.).

While at the airport

While I sit at the Manchester NH airport waiting for my delayed flight,
I thought I would write a post. Try to catch up on what has been going on.
I am flying down to Atlanta to do a face to face interview with a company
called Danger. The job is up here, but the guy I will work for is located in
Duluth Ga. So I get a trip on them down there. Fun, huh? The flight is
delayed by 3.5 hours or so, thus the wait.
Well, there is a new face at the ferret fun house. JJ a.k.a. Jeremiah Jr.
has moved in to the empty house in the ferret room. He is a real sweet
heart of a ferret. His problem is, he doesn't like other ferrets, just people.
So he hangs out alone, until I get home from work to play with him. Then
he is all energy. He loves playing with his Rikki Tikki Snake toy. I think
he likes the rattle in it. He can jump up as high as my knee, which is
pretty good considering his size. He likes to play the jump in the sack
game too. I hold a sleep sack open in front of him and shake it around
in the air and he will jump into it. He enjoys that a lot. He likes his
soup too. Every morning he gets a bowl and finishes the whole thing.
I caught red handed LizBeth sleeping in the litter box on the first
floor of the youngsters house. Alicia put it beautifully when she said,
"Oh for pete's sake!". This explains why it's always such a
mess in there! ;-) When they are out to play they poop all over the
floor too. Kids, I go through a lot of paper towels because of them,
but that's ok, I shop at BJ's and buy in bulk. I have noticed they get
better as they get older. We will see if that holds true. At least LizBeth
lets me trim her nails now. Time was she didn't want the ferrettone
and would just bite away at my fingers. She is learning.
Oh well my flight is getting ready to board so I will publish this and
get ready to hit the skies.

Making a fun toy funnier!

The other day I was in a pet store picking up some of the necessities.
Things like N-bones, Totally ferret senior, and oh yeah, some cat food.
Yeah I have a cat too, a mackerel striped tabby cat named Igor,
pronounced eye-gore. Straight out of Young Frankenstein. If you don't
get the reference, I suggest you rent the movie. Anyhow, while I was
there, I decided to pick up a new tube for the guys to use. They
shredded their last one some time ago.
I came home all proud of myself for being such a good dad and
took the tube out and attached it to the big ball thing made for this
purpose. The first thing I noticed was that the tube wouldn't stay
stretched out, the spring would pull it back together. I pulled it
way out and held it there for a bit, but it would slowly pull itself
back together. I stretched it out and left it. The kids showed it
sporadic interest at best. Whenever I went in I would stretch it
out for them. It was clear that it wasn't as much fun to run down
a short little thing as it was when it was stretched out.

We went on for a few days doing things that way. I would
stretch it out whenever I went in, which is frequently. When
I did this there would be about 10 minutes of high intensity
play and then they would stand around waiting for me to
do it again. This was all the youngsters playing, Sasha,
Ozzie, and Lizbeth. Lil and Starlight are much to refined for
any such shenanigans. Anyhow, one day I had an epiphany,
what if I stretched out the tube and tied it into a knot like a
pretzel? Brilliant I thought and enacted this plan as soon as I
got home.

The 3 kids were having their playtime when I went to
implement plan. Ozzie always flips out ecstatically when
I come in the room while he is out, and this occasion was
no exception. This always transfers to the other 2 as well,
making it a little difficult to get the tube picked up, stretched
out and pretzel-ized with 3 ferrets jumping on you. I
accomplished my task though, and the 3 of them went to
town with it. It was the coolest flurry of frenetic ferret frenzy
I have seen in a long while. It is a riot with all 3 of them in there
at once! The down side of it is that they go at it with such gusto
that within 10 minutes, the tube is lying out straight again.
Then they come at me, jumping up on my legs to get me to do
it again. I think it is good that it won't stay knotted up, because
then it would become just the same old toy and wouldn't get
used as much.

Yuck! Bad breath!

Well, Since the last time I wrote anything not much exciting has
happened around here. Last week I took Lil and Star in for their
annual poking and prodding, which is twice a year now since they
are officially into old lady status. Everything looked pretty good.
The only problem being Lil's teeth. Even though I have been
brushing her teeth once a day, not a venture for the faint of heart,
she still has gross-ness going on in there. So next week she is going
in to get her teeth and gums cleaned up. Starlight is pushing 7 years
old, but doing pretty good. She has had her teeth done and a lump
taken off of her belly, which was almost but not quite cancerous. No
other lumps have shown up since, so we are keeping our fingers
crossed. She go a melatonin chip installed, which will hopefully help
her out some. She was very good about it, she didn't even squirm.
Elliot used to freak out when we did it to him.

We did have a bit of a miracle a couple of weeks ago. When I am
home I go in and check on the kids frequently. At night, the cage
of youngsters are out to play and Lil and Star are in their house.
They need to separated because Lil and Ozzie will start to go at
it. It was dislike at first sight when Lil met him. Anyway, One
time I went in to check, and said hi to Lil and Star, and forgot
to shut the top door after I was done! Now I have ferrets that
are part Monkey, they will all climb up the sides of the cages.
Usually when I do this, it is followed in short order by a lot of
screeching and fighting as Lil and Ozzie go at it. But they
didn't this time. I went back in before going to bed, about an
hour or so later and saw it open and almost freaked out. Lil
and Star were still sleeping soundly. I looked around the room
and Ozzie was in his usual hidey hole, in the cloth tube he pulled
under the chest. Lizbeth was in there with him, but I couldn't
find Sasha. Turns out she climbed up into Lil and Stars cage
and went down to the second floor and into the big sock there
and was sleeping there. No fighting at all, I was amazed. Maybe
there is hope they will all get along and we can have only one
play time? I will have to experiment and see if Lil still hates
Ozzie, maybe just by being in the same room, they are getting
used to each others scent?

As for the youngsters, they are all fine, boisterous as ever. I
am still trying to get the idea across to Lizbeth that biting is
not a good thing. She is an incredibly cute and cuddly looking
sable ferret with white mitts, but you have to be careful if
you pick her up. She will pretty quickly start to show an interest
in your hand, and if you let her look to close, the teeth will come
out! She has only gotten me good once. Lately she has just been
grabbing, but I don't let her do it if I can avoid it. Ozzie hasn't
tried for me in a while, so maybe he is getting past it. Although
I don't offer him my nose! Lizbeth has a fun task she performs.
If the food in their bowl gets a little to old for her, she will
evacuate from the bowl all over the floor for me, that way I know to
fill it up again! We are still working on litter box etiquette with the
youngun's, They use the one on the 2nd floor of their house no
problem. It was hard to get a box with a high back in there.
They wouldn't use the corner pan because it was too small, they
like to be in it when they go. The tray I tried for there was big
enough, but they would hike their butts up so that they would
poop right out of the box half of the time. So with the help of a
utility knife and some goop glue, I combined the two so that I
have a high backed pan they can stand in to go, ( Oh, the
cleverness of me! ). There weren't any to buy that fit the
space I needed it in, and if you know ferrets, you know you
put the litter box where the ferret goes or they will just go
there anyhow! There is a big litter box on the first floor that
goes unused, except to play in. They will go beside it, but
otherwise just play in it. Fortunately that doesn't happen often.
Well, that's it for now, for anyone that may read this, thanks!
Sign my guest book, I will get some new pics up on the site
soon, I hope.....! Sign my guest book! ;-)

Caffine? We don't need no stinkin' caffine!

Well, life in our little neck of the woods has slowed down to a
thankfully dull routine. Everybody seems to be healthy, Sasha
has gotten over the nasty infection she got back in October. It
was an ugly one. Greenish white puss was building up in her
sinuses and would make her face look all swollen until I pushed
all the goop out and cleaned her up. This didn't seem to bother
her all that much, and the twice daily personal attention she would
get didn't hurt either! She wasn't fond of getting the area cleaned
with peroxide. It did give her that sexy peroxide blond look for a
while. Finally Dr. Guerino figured things out and she had to take
clindamycin twice a day for a month and that cleared things up and
she is back to her beautiful sable self again.

Ozzie has most definitely come out of his shell since he has been
here. Time was when I would let the youngsters out for their
playtime, he would hang back waiting for me to reach in and
pick him up for a hug or two. Now when I open the door, he
bursts out all energy and excitement and runs around in
circles and does his happy dance. It matters not a wit to him
if he runs into things, actually it seems he feels that's half the
fun of it. He'll be trying to go so fast that he won't have traction
for some of the romp, and his bum will slide out from under
him and beat his front end to where ever he was going. A pretty
funny thing to see, and I get a kick out of it every night. Every
once in a while I will pick him up in mid run and give him a hug
and a scratch. He calms down and enjoys this, he likes it when I
do the dual scratch on his head and neck, three fingers under the
chin, three on the back of his head, scratch liberally. This will
cause closed eyes and a big yawn every time! Then I'll put him
down and the motor will be revved up before he hits the floor again.
How can you not love someone who is so happy to see you all the
time?He has come a long way from the biter I took in. Not that
he doesn't try, ( and sometimes succeed ), to take a taste every
now and then, just to keep in practice you understand.

Lizbeth is the newest member of the family here. She at fist was
shy, and Sasha didn't like her a lot. But they resolved their
differences and seem to get along pretty good. One of my favorite
things is to look in their house and see all three of them crammed
into that one bed. She has taken over Ozzie's old predilection
of wanting to be picked up and held before she comes out to play.
This is fine, it gives her a sense of security. Then I put her down
and she is off to play with her buds. I recently introduced them
to the treat ball. This is a round ball with an opening on one end
that has a door on it the lets you vary the size of the opening so
it will only let out a treat or two at a time. The object is the kid
or kids in question roll the ball around with their nose and when
it rolls just right, a treat comes. This is something any ferret can
get into. The youngsters current favorite is Totally Ferret treats.
I usually open a package or two and put them in a container to
keep them fresh, and this leads to the inevitable small chunks at
the bottom that are the perfect size for the treat ball. After
I filled it up and showed them the general idea of it, they were at
it for hours. I could here them after I went to bed. Ah to be young.

My favorite Christmas movies

Hello to the nobody that reads this! In keeping with the spirit of the upcoming season, I thought I would list my favorite Christmas movies, and give a short review / explanation as to why. Fun, huh? Ok here we go! Number one Christmas movie of all time:

1**** Ermest Saves Christmas
I know what your thinking, eewww, an Ernest movie? But let me tell you, Jim Varney is Brilliant! The best line in a Christmas movie is when he is flying the sleigh to pick up the new Santa and they are up in space and have just managed to stop after Ernest has pushed what was like the turbo button on the sleigh and Ernest says, "Nobody moves, nobody dies", then one of the elves sneezes and the madness starts up again. Classic! The whole movie is touching, ( awwwwww ), and great fun!

2**** The Muppet Christmas Carol
This is my favorite telling of the the classic Dickens story. Michael Cain is perfectly cast as scrooge! This is the first muppet movie where they used Gonzo and Rizzo as the story tellers. Gonzo shines as Mr. Dickens and Rizzo is the perfect side kick. Kermit is of course perfect for Bob Cratchet, with Piggy as Emily Cratchet. Here is something that you won't notice unless you have seen the movie a few times. Dr. Bunsen Honetdew and Beaker play the 2 gentlemen looking to get a donation from Scrooge for the poor. As Scrooge is kicking them out, you can see Beaker flip Scrooge the bird on the way out the door! Classic!

3**** Christmas Vacation
A definite strong entry for number 3. Chevy Chase is of course great. Lots of fun and laughs. Classic scenes: Randy Quaid emptying the septic system of his camper into the storm drain. Next, of course, when the cat chews through the light cord on the Christmas tree, and of course when the squirrel gets out of the tree.

4**** A Christmas Story
This is another classic. "Your gonna shoot your eye out kid!". This is my dads favorite, because it reminds him of when he was a kid. Scary side thought: When I was a kid I had a pellet gun, I got the bright idea of shooting a tire with it. If it wasn't for the fact I wore glasses, I wouldn't have a right eye. 'Nuff said.

5*** Elf
This is a fairly new movie with Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart and Ed Asner, to name a few. This movie is hilarious! James Caan was great as the grumpy scrooge like character, Will Ferrell plays the innocent world naive elf beautifully, he has a childlike quality that just shines through in this. There are not a lot of his movies I like, but this is definetly one!

6*** The Santa Clause ( 1,2, and probably 3 )
Tim Allen is great in a lot of roles, but he makes an awesome Santa. The stories are fun, 'nuff said.

Ok, so the reviews are not great, I did them on the fly and off the top of my head. But these are the best of the best of the best. ( What movie is that from? ). Maybe I'll do Christmas shows next, ie, Rudolph the red nose reindeer and such. Don't hold your breath though!

Partings and Meetings

Well, September has been a month of meetings and parting of ways. Nikki, who was my oldest, a sable ferret who was 8 years old left at the beginning of September, and her longtime roomie and buddy Elliot just went last Saturday, the 23rd. Elliot had had low blood sugar problems for a year or so. I came home from work one day and he was lying in a hammock in a daze and drooling. So I got some sugar into him, and when he started coming around, some food. The next day we were down seeing Dr G. His blood sugar was at 50 something. So we started him on some pedia-pred and diazoxide and that kept his sugar regulated so that it stayed around 70 to 90 most of the time. Elliot liked it because he got special attention. He was always one of my best tempered boys. He always had a kiss for me and loved to be held. He got along with everyone he ever met and never complained. He was a big beautiful 6+ year old albino boy and I will miss him a lot.

Nikki is the other ferret friend of mine who departed this month. Nikki was 8 years old when she left. She too had low blood glucose her last few months. I was holding her one morning to give her the pedia-pred and she all of a sudden flinched and jumped out of my arms and landed crunch on the floor. She must have had a small stroke, because nothing was broken, but she was in a daze. Her blood glucose had crashed, she couldn't use her back legs. So we ran down to see Dr G and we got her going on prednisone and some stuff to help her control her bladder. She had feeling in her back end, but her brain didn't know where in space anything was. After a couple of weeks of Special duck soup and chicken and turkey baby food, she started eating on her own and was getting the use of her legs back, bit by bit.But her age caught up with her, 8 years old is pretty old for a ferret. She must have had another stroke, one day I got home from work and she was non-responsive. She passed away quietly that night. She spent that night on the bed with me sleeping in a sleep sack, safe and warm.

We also had a new arrival, Lizbeth, a 4 month old sable-mitt cutie joined the tribe. She lives with Sasha and Ozzie. Sasha wasn't too happy about it at first, but has decided that it is not too bad and they get along. Ozzie gets along with everybody so there was no problems there. I got her from the ferretwise rescue and rehabilitation center, where all my kids come from. She was a petco ferret that they couldn't sell because she bites. So now she is here and adjusting nicely. She hasn't got me good yet, but not for lack of trying. I am ready for her most times. She is getting better and the trys have slowed down. I have a fairly healthy batch of kids, the oldest being starlight, who is somewhere around 6 or so. We should be together for a while yet.

Creatures of and with Habits

I am a creature of habit(s), mostly bad. I make no excuses for it, that's the way I am built and that's that. I keep my habits to the legal at least. Started smoking in high school, but in the 70's it was cool. One of the hardest things I did was quit. Had to do it twice too, the first time took me about 14 years, the second only three. When I got laid off in 2003, I started again, STOOPID! I don't deny I am likely to do it again, although as I get older, the chance grows less. Only because it starts to affect my health quicker. I have noticed that a few of my ferrets exhibit the same kind of tenacity in clinging to habits. Take Nikki, she is now 7-1/2 years old. Back when 8in1 made ferretbite® treats that ferrets liked, I used to always have them. Everynight when I put the kids to bed, I would give each a treat. These were the only treat I could find they liked. It got to the point, I would put them in their house, and they would be lined up paws up on the door edge looking at me waiting. This went on for a year or more, because I bought a case of them, chicken flavor to be precise.

But that came to an end when I used up the case. When I ran out, I went to Petco and bought a couple of hold-over boxes until I could order another case. These were different shaped I noticed, oh well, no matter as long as they taste the same. But it was no go, even Nikki, the most rabid consumer wanted nothing to do with them. I was stunned, why would they change something that was perfectly good? I will never know I guess. Now back to the point. That was 3 years ago, to this day when I put Nikki to bed, she gets her front paws up on the door sill and looks at me for treats. Fortunately I have found a substitute that she likes. But it took a while. for more than a year she looked for her treat to no avail. At least I have something for her now. Every once in a while I will substitute petroleum jelly, she likes that almost as much, and keeps the hair out of her belly. With her it's all good, as long as she gets a treat.

Random entry 1

This is a post I moved from my web site to here, it was written on March 8, 2006:

Well an unprecedented thing is happening today, I am writing an entry for the second day in a row. This entry will be a departure from the previous ones in that it is not dedicated to the subject of ferrets, although they do play a small part. How could they not? ;-) Since I am experiencing the new Netflix, in other words, I rent to many too fast so I am being throttled, as they call it, I have decided to watch my cool big screen movies on the new 47" HDTV. I have been going through the Jurassic Park movies. They look awesome on this TV! It's like I haven't seen them before! Anyhow, its quite enjoyable. Just as I was getting to my favorite part of The Lost World, the part where the T-Rex runs loose in San Diego, I got an IM from a friend of mine in the Phillipines, Socrates. Damn! Oh well, I Paused the movie and chatted with him for about a half hour. I was jealous of him because it was very hot and sunny where he was, and it was very dark and cold where I was. Other than that it was a good chat. We both have cameras now so it makes it that much more personal. Technology is cool!

Starlight managed to get a claw tangled in one of the sleepers, so I took her and the sleeper out to get a pair of scissors and extracate her. Sasha and Ozzie were still out for their run time, but Ozzie was sound asleep, I was distracted with keeping Starlight from wriggling, so I left the top door open. *sigh* Sasha was up and about so she wandered in to have a look-see. Lil didn't appreciate that and told her so. I had to hurry back in with Starlight and break up the resulting brawl. I took Sasha out and put Starlight down and shut the door this time. Lil managed to scrape her nose a bit so we went into the bathroom for some peroxide and some calming down. I think they get into fights for the resulting treats they get from me.

This afternoon is my guitar lesson, I got a reprieve of extra time to practice from George, who was really sick with a cold last week, and I mostly squandered it because I got a new toy, a directv reciever/DVR unit. Tivo rocks! I love being able to pause live TV! It's one drawback is it's need to make phone calls to get updates and such. I have Vonage VOIP and the modem on the tivo doesn't like it very much. It took about 3 hours worth of phone calls between directv and Vonage to get the initial call to happen, so it would complete setting up. After that it needed to download a butt load of data to update it's OS. It couldn't do it, kept failing the call during download. Fortunately there are plenty of geeks out on the web who have figured stuff like this out. What I ended up doing was getting a null modem cable for the Tivo, setting up a modem on COM1 of my computer, and now I just use that to do it through the internet. Works great! Geeks rule! Spending all my time figuring out, searching and doing this was how I squandered my guitar practice time. I did do some, but not nearly enough. D'OH! I hope to someday have some original songs I am working on posted on this site, that's what the lessons are for.

Well that will be it for this entry, I think. I should probably get back to work. I have no idea when I will do another, not to long I hope. It is pretty easy to ramble on about stuff, and who knows if anybody reads this stuff? If you do, sign my guest book on my web page! I may get around to putting some pictures up soon. Bye!

Precious things

Back when I was still in college I had a ferret named Natasha. Natasha liked to collect and hide things. It started off small, but grew into a big compulsion. Now when I was in school, I would go to classes, then to work for a while, then to study. If I got a chance for a nap at whatever time, I would take it. I first noticed Natasha collecting things when waking up from a nap. Now, not only did she collect things, but they had to be put into very specific places. One of the toys they had at the time was an Alf hand puppet I had gotten from Burger King. Remember Alf? He got a bad rep, but I always liked him. Anyhow, the ferrets lived in my bedroom in the apartment I was in. One of their favorite places to sleep was in the bottom drawer of the dresser I had. It was a good 8 inches off of the ground, but they figured out how to get into it. After a while I made some stairs so they could just climb in. These guys spent very little time in their house, I put them to bed at night when I slept so they wouldn't be running under the covers and chewing on my toes. Just for the record, Natasha's house mates were Mishka who was the first ferret I ever had, and Ivanhoe a ferret I got from a person who didn't want him anymore which was a shame because Ivanhoe was a really sweet boy. This person did the same thing a few years later with another sweet boy, Norman. I believe he has stopped trying to have ferrets which is a good thing. Anyhow, I digress.

So, I woke from my nap fortunately looking in the right direction to see Natasha dragging Alf accross the floor and up the little steps and trying to get him into the dresser. Now she couldn't get him in the way she was carrying him, which was by the leg and sort of dragging him beside her. She tried but she couldn't get him and herself over the rim of the drawer at the same time. She tried several times until she figured it out. She pulled him up that way as far as she could and then jumped into the drawer and pulled him the rest of the way in. I was spellbound watching her work this out. I had a genius for a ferret! She wanted him up there to sleep with. When I got up and looked next, she was curled up in there with Alf. A security puppet.

The next time I noticed her collecting habit, we had moved to a bigger place, same arrangement, the ferrets stayed in the bedroom with me. But this time they had the run of 3 rooms, while I was home. So now she had access to the bathroom trash bucket and she discovered toilet paper rolls! Once she found them, she would raid the trash for any that might be there and stash them under the bed. Again, this took me totally by surprise, I saw her walking along with one, she carried them so it looked like it was stuck on her head. She would have it in her mouth so the tube was over her snout and walk along like that. It was very funny to watch, because she had to walk funny to do it. Now I will say she never tried to stick her head in them, and Mishka and Ivanhoe showed no interest in them, or I wouldn't have allowed it to continue. I hadn't realized the extent of this until I looked under the bed. There were dozens of these under there! ( Shows you what my house keeping habits are like! ). I then decided to try an experiment, I took them all out from under the bed and scattered them about the room. She spent the 10 or 15 minutes putting them all back! So from then on, about twice a month I would take them out so she could put them back. ( I didn't let her know, but I would throw a few out to keep things from getting out of hand. ). She still kept ALf where ever she slept as well. Old habits never go away. After she passed away, it was a long time before I took the tubes out from under the bed.

Persistence

Have you ever heard of the idea that people and their pets will begin to look like each other? I think the same is true of habits and basic nature. I am by nature a very persistant person. Once I start on a task, no matter how futile, I will doggedly work at it, trying everything I can think of to make it work. Even falling back on the old premise of, if it didn't work the first or second time, maybe it will work this time! I am a nut that way sometimes. Enter a ferret named Lil, who apparently pays WAY too much attention to her human.

Here is the situation: the ferrets have their very own room, I had the house built so I could specify what was going on. Their room has vinyl flooring, like the kitchen and bathroom, while the rest of the rooms have carpet. If you live with ferrets, you know why this is better. When we first moved in, I used to have a barrier I would put up to keep them from getting to the front of the house, and I would let them run between their room and the back bedroom. I closed the door to the master bedroom, because Nikki has a penchant for digging into the mattress, nuff said. I stopped that practice because,

1. Although there were litter boxes there, the guys aren't all that studious about using them. This is bad on carpet.
2. I wanted to make it into a music room, guitars, amplifiers and stuff.

Ok, that lays out all the explanations for what follows.

Lil has instituted a game with me, she somehow knows everytime I am coming through the door into the room. So, she is waiting there most every time when I go in, and she is looking to scamper out as fast as she can. Her thinking she will succeed is reinforced by the fact that she has on several occasions. It has gotten down to a routine between us. As soon as I open the door I automatically reach down to grab Lil, with about a 97% success rate. Sometimes if I am tired, or more likely, carrying something, such as the soup I give them every morning, she will get by. Then a merry pursuit ensues. This all usually happens when I am on my way out to work, or have to be somewhere quickly. She knows all the good spots to go from previous adventures. Under the couch is a good one, as is behind the TV or under the recliner. Anywhere she can go, keep a lookout and escape from quickly. Her most favorite spot was under the kitchen counters. I have a big open area living room / kitchen deal. She discovered the counters on her most memorable escape to date. She got out for the whole day. I was dealing with a sick kid who needed to be taken to the vet really quickly. I was so distracted that Lil slipped out the door without me noticing. So I obliviously took off, sick ferret in hand, with Lil having the run of the house. When I got home that evening, I heard a strange noise coming from the kitchen. I looked in and saw a ferret nose poking out from under the counter, much to my surprise and chagrin.

Now, my little buddy knew she wasn't supposed to be there, so getting her out from under the counter was going to be a bit of a chore. It took a good hour of wheedling, and cajoling to do the job. If I went out of her line of sight, she would start coming out a little to see where I went, as soon as I tried to sneak back, she would zip right back under. She was having a great time, and I myself couldn't help seeing the humor in the situation. After a while though, the situation needed to be resolved, so I decided to play dirty. I got a saucer and a tube of nutrical. I placed a bunch of nutrical on the saucer and put the saucer just in front of where she was hiding. I let her come out to see what was there, then I would walk towards it and she'd scurry back in. But this was all part of my dastardly plan! After a couple of rounds of this I moved the saucer out to the middle of the floor and sat down cross-legged behind it. I was working on the premise that no ferret is going to stay away from a perfectly good snack, even if it means getting caught. I sat very still, and was soon rewarded by Lil sticking her nose out and looking around. She looked a little conflicted, then finally she threw all caution to the wind and ran over to the saucer and started in on the nutrical. Her adventure for the day was over. I am sure she had stories to tell everybody that night. I later went around and found all the places she had visited and cleaned up. She has not equaled the success of that day, because I try to be a little more vigilant, but she keeps on trying.

Trials and tribulations

The other day I went in as usual at around 6 pm to do the daily litter clean up and "changing of the guard",in the ferret room. I try to keep the time the same every day during the week, because all of the kids can't be out and running together as will be seen later on down the line. 6 pm is a good time during the week, because I get up around about 5 am shower and all that and do the swap again about 6am. I like to try and keep the time out for one group equal to the other. The day time group consists of Nikki, Lil, Starlight, and Elliot. The overnight group is Ozzie and Sasha. Weekends are a little different since I like to sleep in. But it all works out.

This particular incident happened on the weekend in the evening. I went in as usual with Elliots medicine in hand. Did I mention that Elliot is hypo-glycemic? He gets 0.7 ml of pedia pred and 0.2 ml of diazoxide that is mixed into a tutti-frutti flavor, twice a day. I administered the meds, cleaned up the litter boxes and put the day group to bed. Giving out treats all around. They like the totally ferret treats currently. They used to love the 8 in 1 chicken ferretbites, but they changed the formula, so now none of my kids want them. I made sure all the doors on their house were latched tight, because Lil will squeeze through to get at Ozzie if she can.

So, that being done, I went and Let Ozzie and Sasha out to play. Ozzie is a bit of a biter, he doesn't try so much for me anymore, unless I am dumb enough to stick his nose right in front of mine. That big target is just too much to resist and he'll chomp away. Other than that, we get along fine. He won't come out of the house unless I reach in and pick him up and carry him out. Sasha used to come out on her own but has taken a cue from Ozzie and wants to be lifted too. That being done, we played for a bit. Then I went out for some constructive TV watching and Counter Strike playing. All was well at this point. At various points through the evening I usually go back in, say hi and make sure everyone is ok. I like my guys to have a lot of people contact. The last time in is what caused the problem. I opened the top door to the old guys house and said hello all around, I must have got distracted because I forgot to shut it again! Lil was asleep so it took her a while to find this. But later on when I was in bed, I was awoken by the telltale shrieking and screaming of an all out ferret brawl. For the most part these aren't too bad, but I like to break them up and discourage them when I can. It was funny in a way, because I had been thinking of trying mixing them together. I t had been a few months I thought, maybe they are used to the smell of each other. This proved that was a bad idea. As I entered the room, I saw Lil sitting in one end of the cloth tube, Ozzie was under the dresser. Sasha was sound asleep in their house. I grabbed Lil and deposited her in her place and shut the door. She smelled of musk, and her tail was bottle-brushed out straight! She was very worked up. I got Ozzie out from under the dresser and saw blood on the fur of his neck. His tail was also straight out. I will have to say right here, I blamed this on Lil right away, she is the Alpha female of the group and goes after Ozzie whenever she gets the chance. Turns out though, that the blood on Ozzie was from Lil. He savaged her left ear pretty good. After she calmed down, about an hour later, I cleaned her up and inspected her ear. It wasn't as bad as it looked. She would be fine.